Two more defendants in Galante case are sentenced

Published 3:35 am, Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Two more employees of former Danbury trash czar James Galante, one of whom concocted a scheme to defraud customers while free on bail, were sentenced Tuesday by a federal court judge in New Haven.

Ronald Zollo, 51, of Highland Mills, N.Y., was fined $25,000 and will serve three years on probation on charges of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The second defendant, Timothy Arciola, 38, who is serving 15 months in prison for racketeering conspiracy, will spend another 21 months behind bars for mail fraud.

Zollo had been the controller for several of Galante's enterprises. The tax evasion charge stems from his preparation of fraudulent expense checks for Galante, and the payment of salaries, medical benefits and travel expenses to no-show employees, according to authorities.

The wire fraud conspiracy stemmed from Zollo's role in helping the Danbury Trashers -- which was Galante's entry in the United Hockey League -- circumvent the league's salary cap.

By placing either team members or their wives in no-show jobs with the trash companies, the Trashers were able to pay players approximately $750,000 during the 2004-05 minor league hockey season, some $475,000 above the cap.

Arciola, who was a salesman for Danbury-based Automated Waste Disposal and Superior Waste Disposal, pleaded guilty to racketeering but was out on bail and was still working for the companies when he created the Omni Management Group in December 2008.

Arciola solicited AWD and SWD customers on behalf of Omni, then convinced AWD and SWD to charge Omni customers a reduced rate and mail the bill to a post office box he controlled. Arciola and others would keep the difference between the payments for themselves, investigators said.

Arciola was also ordered to pay restitution of more than $4,100 to the customers he cheated.

All 33 people arrested as a result of the long-running federal investigation have pleaded guilty, although three more defendants remain to be sentenced, according to Thomas Carson, a spokesman for the United States Attorney in Connecticut.

Galante is serving 87 months in prison on racketeering, wire fraud and tax evasion conspiracy charges. He also forfeited ownership of 25 trash hauling companies, a Southbury residence, six race cars, and nearly $450,000 cash seized during the investigation.